The new cultivar is the product of chance discovery. The new variety originated as a naturally occurring whole plant mutation of the commercial variety of Salvia hybrid ‘Wendy's Wish’ U.S. Plant Pat. No. 21,889.
The new variety was discovered by the inventor, Howard Bentley, a citizen of Australia, during October of 2010 in a commercial greenhouse belonging to the inventor in Wonga Park, Australia. After identifying the new variety as a potentially interesting selection, the inventor continued confidential testing and propagation of ‘SAL010-1’ assessing stability of the unique characteristics of this variety.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar ‘SAL010-1’ was first performed at a nursery in Wonga Park, Australia, by vegetative cutting in September of 2011. Access to all plants was restricted, as plants were kept in a location that is not open to the public. Through subsequent propagation by vegetative cuttings, six generations have been reproduced, which have shown that the unique features of this cultivar are stable and reproduced true to type.